Oklahoma Starting 11: Tight End Brayden Willis

SI Sooners Examines OU's Best and Brightest Players on the 2022 Roster Heading Into Spring Practice. Today: No. 11, Brayden Willis.

Brayden Willis is ready for a bigger role.

Oklahoma’s fifth-year senior tight end spent four seasons as a complementary player in Lincoln Riley’s offense.

But now the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Willis could be on the verge of a true breakout season.

“Obviously,” said tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley, “he can play ball.”

In his career so far, Willis has 36 caches for 484 yards and six touchdowns. Under first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, Willis might have the opportunity approach those numbers in 2022 alone.

Brayden Willis :: John E. Hoover / SI Sooners

Lebby’s had productive tight ends in the past. But none were quite as athletic and dynamic as Willis.

Under Riley, OU tight ends deployed in a versatile multipack of positions. Riley called them H-backs and they lined up everywhere and did everything.

Under Lebby, Willis will be allowed to show off his skills in a more traditional tight end role. That means lining him up on the end of the line or flexing him out into the slot and exploiting matchup advantages he’ll have against the defense.

Willis came to Oklahoma from Martin High School in Arlington, TX, as a consensus three-star athlete. As a senior, he caught 29 passes for 586 yards and seven touchdowns, rushed for 572 yards and 16 touchdowns, and passed for 521 yards and four touchdowns. In his high school career, Willis had 56 catches for 909 yards and 10 TDs.

Brayden Willis :: Joshua R. Gateley / OU Athletics

After choosing OU over Arizona, Houston, Wake Forest and others, Willis’ freshman season consisted of action in 13 games. He caught just one pass, a 29-yard grab against Baylor. He also contributed a blocked punt against Kansas that Curtis Bolton returned for a touchdown.

In 2019, Willis caught 11 passes for 168 yards and scored three touchdowns in three consecutive games, including an acrobatic grab and powerful stretch across the goal line against TCU. He also scored against Baylor and Oklahoma State, had a 25-yard grab against Texas, 7-yard TD grab against Baylor in the Big 12 title game and got his second career start against LSU in the College Football Playoff.

Brayden Willis / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Willis battled injury and illness in 2020, playing in just five games, but he still contributed nine catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. That included three catches for 42 yards in the Big 12 title game against Iowa State.

And last year, Willis was healthy for all 13 games, made eight starts and caught 15 passes for 177 yards and two TDs. He caught multiple passes in five games, including four for 31 yards at Kansas State and three for 29 yards and a touchdown just before halftime at Oklahoma State.

Because of injuries, occasionally unsteady quarterback play and spotty pass protection, Oklahoma’s receiver corps the last two years has been inconsistent. Who knows if that will even out in 2022? But if it doesn’t, Willis will be a good option for quarterback Dillon Gabriel — and not just in a check-down, safety-valve role. Willis’ ability to beat defenders in coverage makes him a weapon in the OU passing game.

Mike Woods and Brayden Willis / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Gabriel didn’t have much access to tight ends in the passing game at UCF. In Gabriel’s two full seasons as a starter, 6-7, 252-pound Jake Hescock caught a total of 19 passes for 140 yards and five TDs.

But Gabriel did make good use of his big-bodied wide receivers. In 2019, Gabriel Davis, a 6-3, 212-pound wideout, caught 72 passes for 1,241 yards and 12 touchdowns, and Jacob Harris, at 6-5, 211, caught 19 passes for 448 yards, nearly a 24-yards-per-catch average. In 2020, Harris caught 30 passes for 539 yards and eight touchdowns.

And before injuring his collarbone in the third game of the 2021 season, Gabriel hooked up three times for 32 yards and a TD with 6-3, 230-pound tight end Alec Holler.

Brayden Willis :: Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman

Those numbers portend good things for Willis in 2022 — primarily that Gabriel knows how to utilize targets who have a physical mismatch and ultimately trusts them to make plays.

“I’m so happy to have Brayden back for so many reasons,” Finley said. “He’s obviously a great football player and really came on, making plays in the last couple games (of 2021). But above that, he’s the type of person you want on your football team. That’s the kind of person you want to build your team around because of his mentality, how he approaches every single day.”